Catalyst
by TonightsArmy
Summary: A new courier of the void has been chosen, he's from a different world and knows nothing about the one he's in. He'll be caught up in the problems of each mob race and they're representatives while something darker lurks in the shadows waiting to spark a war.
1. Chapter 1: The New Courier

**A/N**

 **Welcome to my story, but before I start there are a few I'd like to say first. I'll be straight with you, this story technically has mob talker in it, and I know not everybody likes that but I'm just using the idea of mob talker, I'm not using the characters from it. Also, I'm from Australia so I'll be spelling some things differently from some of you, but some things will be the way you spell them. Lastly, I haven't properly played minecraft in years, I don't even watch minecraft youtubers so my knowledge of the game will most likely be outdated. Now that's out of the way, I hope you enjoy my story.**

Chapter 1: The new courier

Asleep, he laid there on the polished wooden floorboards. His breathing too soft to be heard. The light hit his face causing his eyes to slowly flutter open. He begrudgingly got up to observe his surroundings. He rubbed his hands over his pale face to wake himself up. He looked on in confusion at what was in front of him. Behind a dark oak wood desk sat a black crystalline creature wearing a gray three piece suit with a dark blue bow tie. It's head was the shape of a pyramid, and it one giant eye ball in the center, it kinda reminded him of the Illuminati. It was sorting through papers of some kind, and would stop every now and again to write on one of them with a fountain pen. The boy just stood there, dumbfound by the scene in front of him. He ran his fingers through his sandy blonde hair as he tried to understand what was going on.

 _What the hell? Is this a dream?_ He thought.

The creature got up and put some papers away in a filing cabinet before return to it's desk. It started to attend to another pile of paper on it desk.

 _What should I do? I'll ask it where I am, that's a good start, right?_ He thought

"Um, Excuse me?"

The thing continued as it was. Not paying attention to him at all.

 _No response, huh?_ He thought, _Guess I'll have to try something a bit more abrasive._

"Hey! Dickhead!"

It stopped sorting through it's paper work and looked up at him with disdain. To the boy's surprise the thing had a crystal eyelid as well.

 _Maybe saying that to a random creature was a bad idea,_ he thought.

"So you're not just a figment of my imagination, _great..._ " It spoke. It's voice sounded posh in tone but it was as if it were speaking underwater, it's was clear but it's voice seemed to echo in a strange way.

"Why would you think I'm a figment of your imagination?"

"Your attire," it said, "I find it difficult to believe that someone would clothe themselves in such a way."

The boy looked down at his clothing, he was wearing blue, flannel patterned pajama bottoms, and white socks. He guessed that it was kind of weird to not be wearing a shirt but it was hot when he was sleeping.

"I think I look fine."

It didn't seem to care much for his opinion, "And to add on to that you're a child. I don't think my luck could have been any worse," it spoke. It was quite frustrated.

"I'll have you know that I'm eighteen, okay, I'm not a child."

"Compared to how long I've been around you might as well be an infant."

"You know what, that doesn't matter right now. Can you tell me I am?"

"Yes, I _can_ tell you."

He was starting to get a bit annoyed with this creature's attitude, " _Haha_ , really funny, smartass. Now tell, Where am I?"

"You, sir, are in my wonderful office."

He looked around the room, it did indeed look like an office, it had a desk, filing cabinets, and there was even a painting of a skeleton hanging on the wall behind it. The walls of the room were covered in brown wallpaper with floral designs that had seen better days. The rest of the room behind the boy was just empty space, the only notable thing was a window on the far wall.

"To be honest, it's pretty shitty ."

"What you think matters very little to me. Now that you're here, I'll give you your first assignment," the creature reached into one of it's drawers attached to it's desk, and pulled out a rolled up piece of paper and a pen.

"Assignment? What are you talking about?"

"Here take this and this," it handed the paper and pen over the desk, "and I guess you'll be needing this as well." It got out of it's leather chair, and walked over to a little wooden cabinet sitting in the corner. The boy couldn't see what was in there as the entity looked through the contents of the box. After a moment, the creature found what it was looking for and stood up, then walked over to the boy with the newly acquired object. It handed him a brown, leather satchel.

"What am I going to need this for?"

"What do you think it's for? It's going to help you carry your belongings, but mainly it's to keep your parcels and documents safe."

The boy put the pen and paper in his satchel before slinging it over his shoulder.

"So what, am I some kind of makeshift mailman now?" He said, "And hold on a minute, I never agreed to this, I don't even know where I'm going."

"You'll be delivering that document to the spider queen, and after that you will return here."

The boy had a skeptical look on his face, "Right, the spider queen… This is a prank, isn't it?"

The creature walked past the boy, over to left wall on the barren side of the room. He then proceeded to push his hands through the wall like a ghost, and started slowly ripping a hole in the wall. Instead of a hole like the boy was expecting, the creature had created a portal.

"I assure you that this is no practical joke, now get going, it's best you find some shelter before dark," it stood there expectantly, waiting for the boy.

The boy was in a state of panic, he couldn't believe what was happening, "Fuck that shit!" He ran over to window, opened it, and got ready to jump out, but he stopped. He looked out the window and saw nothing but a black abyss, in every direction there was empty space, nothing for as far as the eye could see.

He walked away from the window shakily, eventually tripping over his own feet, and landing on his ass.

"Y-you said that we were in your office, r-right?" The boy said, he struggled to speak clearly.

"Correct."

"Where's your office?"

"Right here."

"Where is here?"

"Here is the void."

The boy tensed up at those words. _The void? What the hell is that? What in the world is going on?_

The creature came over, and grabbed the boy by the back of his neck, "That's enough questions for now, time to go."

"Wait! How am I even supposed to get back here?"

"Oh, that's right! Thanks for reminding me, I almost forgot."

"Forgot what?"

The creature turned the boy around, and before he could do anything he pushed the five fingers on his right hand into the boy's chest, and soon after broke them off. The missing fingers on the creature's hand quickly grown back, leaving five black gem looking stones stuck in the boy's chest, somehow there was no blood.

The boy escaped it's grasp, and stumbled in front of the portal facing the creature. _That hurt like a bitch._

"What did you just do to me? You freak!"

"I gave you a portion of my power, you should be able to get back here the same way you'll leave. Also, don't tell anyone about the message you're carrying it, actual how about you just don't look at it at all, and if you do I'll kill you."

"Why don't you do it yourself? Doesn't sound like you need my help."

"Unfortunately I have been condemned to remain in this room for eternity."

"Must suck to be you then," the boy sudden realized something. "You shouldn't be throwing empty threats around."

"Pardon?"

"How are you going to kill me if you can even leave this place, huh?" The boy retorted cockily.

The creature did not take this kindly. The boy felt a sudden pain in his chest, and he struggled to breath, he feel to the floor gasping for air. The creature dropped down to one knee, and came close to the boys face, "Those stones I put in your chest isn't just to give power, it's also acts as a brand." The boy looked up at the creature leaning over him with fear as he struggled to breath, "It's also a kill switch, so If you do anything that upsets me, no matter the place, no matter the time, you'll dead. I guarantee it."

The kill switch that had been suffocating the boy earlier suddenly stopped after the creature's threat. He gasped in massive lung fulls of air, and he slowly stood up, his legs shaking.

"What is your name boy?"

"V-Vincent. Vincent Ashen."

"Well then, Mr. Ashen, best of luck," as soon as it finished it's farewell, it kicked Vincent in the chest, sending him flying through the portal.

He fell for a second but his quickly came into contact with the side of a snow mountain.

When his feet meet the side of the mountain he immediately began rolling down the side of the mountain, and trying to protect his head he curled up into a ball. Tumbling down the side of a mountain certainly wasn't fun, but not wearing much clothing made the trip down the side of the mountain only that much more painful and cold.

Suddenly his journey was cut short because the mountain ended in a steep cliff, and since the mountain was rather steep he wasn't able to slow himself down, "No, no, no, no, no, no!" Vincent was flung off the edge yelling at the top of his lungs. Thankfully, this was not his end, the cliff lead directly into a dense forest, with plenty of tall trees to break his fall and his bones. Vincent was dazed by the flips, and spins he made as he hit the branches of the trees. When his fall ended he hit the ground with a solid thud, and landed on his left arm.

He laid there for a few minutes groaning in pain. Exhausted, he tried to push himself, but ended up collapsing in pain, his left armed screamed in agony and Vincent did the same. He rolled onto his back and got up from there using only his right arm. He stood up weakly and applied a small amount of pressure to his left arm, which he immediately regretted.

"Yep, it's definitely broken," he leaned against the jagged cliff face, which was still close by. He looked around, taking in his surroundings, far as he could there were tall trees, and everything was covered in snow.

He held his broken arm close to himself, and shivered from the cold, "All my life I had wanted to see snow, but I never thought it would be like this," he let out a soft chuckle, "This week has been so shit."

Vincent stood up, he checked his satchel, saw that the letter and pen where fine, and straighten it. He checked his pockets and felt something, he pulled out his phone and earphones, he was happy beyond belief. The screen was cracked but besides from that it was in great shape, it could have been much worse. Suddenly a deep worry crossed his mind, he checked if it was still working, he pressed the on button, and was relived to see it power on like normal.

Vincent, being the somewhat sensible person he was, didn't want to freeze to death, so he started walking. He felt the snow crunch beneath his every step, and his socks become more wet as he went on. He noticed he had a limp when he walked, his body was badly bruised all over, and a particularly nasty bruise was on his left leg.

"Why couldn't I have fallen into water. I know it's cliché, but I would have preferred it much more than this."

Seeing that the journey out of the forest might take a while, he got out phone and earphones, plugged one into the other, put the ear phones in, and pressed shuffle. The first song that came up was 'Baths – Halls'.

As he walked he looked at the forest around him, the trees were a rather dark colour, almost black. There was no grass or shrubbery on the ground, any plant that wasn't tree was bound to die in this waether. The sky was a foggy white unlike the sea blue he was used to, it gave the forest a rather grim feel about it.

While walking, Vincent started thinking about the document he was carrying, _What could it be about? Maybe I_ _sh_ _ould take a lo- Wait, no, I shouldn't, that thing will get me with it's knockoff force choke if I try._ _Now that I think about, how would it know if I looked? It's not like it can see me or anything… I hope. Probably best not to try, not worth risking my life over._

Vincent was still in the snow forest, he had made some distance and had occasionally passed by wildlife every now and then, but the cold was starting to get to him now, "If I remember correctly, it takes at least ten minutes to freeze to death when you're dressed like this, I could be wrong but it sure doesn't feel like it."

Just as he finished that sentence, Vincent saw something in the distance, he could see green trees and bright sunlight, _Holy shit! Is that…_

With newly acquired determination Vincent sprinted over to the greenery. Once he was close enough he dove right on to the green grass, and relaxed as the sunlight gently touched his skin, warming his entire back. After a bit downtime, he soon got up, and notice something strange. There was straight line of snow where the snow forest cut off from the oak forest, Vincent looked up to see that the forests were divided all the way up to the sky. Over the snow forest was the same foggy white as before, but when the clouds reached the oak forest they cut off completely, leading to clear skies.

"What? How is this even possible?" He said as he reached his hand across the border and felt his hand enter the frigid cold, and the snow fall on his hand softly, "I don't even… You know what? Forget it, it doesn't matter." He brought his hand back into the comforting warmth of the oak forest and walked off.

He continued to walk for several hours, and every so often he'd come upon a pig, or some other farm animal, he eventually took out his earphones, preferring the silence. The sun was in the middle of setting when Vincent found the end of the forest. He burst forth from the tree line, and as he laid his eyes on the village in the middle of a grassy field, he felt more relieved then ever before in his life.

As he stood there looking around, he noticed a man emerge from the tree line a bit further down from him. He was rather muscular and had a thick brown beard, in one hand he had a pickaxe that was being dragged along the ground and the other hand was holding the end of a bag that was slung over his shoulder.

By this time the sun had completely set and it was night. Being the first human Vincent had seen in quite a while, he started walking over to the man, "Hey, you! Do you think you could hel-" His sentence was cut short as an arrow pierced his, already broken, left arm. At first he was in shock and couldn't feel anything, but after a few seconds the pain hit him like a freight train. He screamed out in agony, "Oh my god! Fuck!" He looked in the direction of his attacker and saw a lone skeleton standing in the tree line equipped with a bow and quiver.

"Wha-What?" Vincent stood there befuddled, _What the hell is going on?_ _What is this place_ _?_

He snapped out of his daze when he saw the it reach for another arrow. He frantically turned around and rushed towards the man with the pickaxe, "Help me! For the love of god help me!" He Hurriedly approached the man, who at this point had noticed Vincent coming towards him. As Vincent raced towards the man, another arrow hit him, this time in his left hand. He felt it pierce his flesh and break the bones in his hand, "God dammit! Why is it always the same spot! Please! Help me!"

The stranger turned towards him and said, "Sorry, not my problem," then be sped off, or at least tried to, whatever was in that bag of his was weighing him down severely, he could just barely move faster than Vincent, who was limping and move father slowly. "You son of a bitch," with shear willpower, Vincent ignored the pain in his leg, sprinting towards the man and eventually caught up to him, and he started running along side him. The skeleton was following close behind in hot pursuit , shooting arrows at the both of them, all of them close calls.

"Well would you look at that," Vincent said mockingly as he ran along side the stranger. "It seems that this is your problem now," the man was clearly not pleased with this turn events, he spun on his heel, turning around to face the skeleton, he put his bag in front of him as a makeshift shield, and charged the monster, while letting out what would be described as a battle cry. The skeleton stood it's ground and continued to shoot at the man, but the sack was blocking every arrow it sent the man's way. When he had finally reached the skeleton, he moved his bag out of the way while simultaneously raising his pickaxe above his head, and delivered a devastating blow that caved in the skeletons skull. With that single swing, the skeleton's body collapsed to the ground.

Vincent and the brooding man walked side-by-side towards the village, "Stupid kid, pain in my ass," the man was mumbled under his breath, normally Vincent would take this moment to annoy someone, but after all that had happened today, he just didn't have the energy for it. As they got closer to the village Vincent could see it more clearly, it was surrounded by a stone wall, which had a few sentries atop of it patrolling back and forth, there were several torches which helped fend off the darkness of the night. Lastly, there was huge wooden gate, it was covered it metal studs and had a sentry positioned right above it.

"Hey," the stranger called out to the sentry.

The sentry leaned over the edge of the wall, "Charles? Is that you?"

"Yes, it's me you bloody idiot, let me in."

"What have I told you about mining for too long."

"I have to. The extra time helps me get more ores."

"You're gonna get yourself killed one of these days."

"I don't care Fredrick just open the gate already!"

"Alright, alright, just give me a second," Fredrick disappeared from sight for brief moment, while he was gone the gates began to open slowly, the joints creaking loudly.

"There done."

"About time," Charles muttered under his breath, only Vincent could hear him. When they were though and the gates closed behind them, Vincent passed out and fell face first into the gravel. Laying there in bloody, bruised, and exhausted mess.

 **Well that's the first chapter, I know it was kinda generic, but it'll get better over time. Let know what you guys think and tell me if you spot any typos. Also, I don't know how often I'll be updating this story, but I'll try to aim between a week or two, don't quote me on that.**


	2. Chapter 2: Meeting The Locals

**A/N**

 **Hey guys, how long has it been? A month? Yeah… Sorry about that. Some things came up and got in my way, and I'm back a school now which isn't helping. If I've learned anything while writing this chapter it's that I have terrible work ethic. And this chapter isn't very exciting either so don't know if it was worth the wait but here it is anyway. Let's get on to the chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: You don't need to put in a disclaimer saying you don't own minecraft. You're not gonna be sued.**

 **Chapter 2: Meeting the locals**

Yet again, Vincent was asleep. But this time he wasn't on the floor, he was in a small bed. It was like sleeping on bricks and wasn't much more comfortable then the floor. It was also rather dirty, covered in coal dust and metal shavings, which wasn't helped by the blood seeping from Vincent's arm. With a pained groan and a raspy cough, his eyes opened reluctantly from the light pouring through a small open window next to the bed. Judging from the angle and lighting, Vincent assumed that it was early in the morning. A gently breeze came through the window, it made Vincent shiver.

 _Where the hell am I?_ It didn't take him long to recalled yesterdays events. _So it wasn't a dream? I guess this hell like pain all over my left arm serves as proof of that._

Looking around the wooden room, Vincent notice that it was rather scarce of furniture. There was the bed, a dusty tallboy, and a chair that was sitting in the corner of the room. Sitting in the chair asleep was the man from last night, he was as tall as a mountain and looked as tough as nails. His sheer size made the chair look like it was made for a child. Vincent hadn't notice it before, but the man had a short brown hair atop his head, the color matching his thick beard. He wore a black leather apron and a brown shirt with the sleeves rolled up. He also donned a pair of blue jeans and thick boots, both of them thoroughly worn.

Vincent also spotted a glass bottle filled with a red liquid in the man's hand. _Hmm… Must be wine or something._

After having sufficiently scouted the room, he then decided to leave and try to find a doctor. This plan was cut short when he realised that he was too weak to move, it felt as if his body had become tenfold heavier since last night. His small commotion made the rusty joints of the bed scream in protest, startling his friend in the corner.

The man jolted awake in half panic but quickly settled, "Huh? What? Oh… You're awake." Still half asleep, the man's speech was slow and slurred. He stumbled out his chair and made his way the bed before crouching down beside Vincent.

The man looked Vincent over before saying, "You look like a corpse, and you're as white as a sheet."

"Thanks for the compliment, I really appreciate it. Especially when it's coming from someone who looks like they take steroids for breakfast."

"What the hell are steroids? Actually, don't answer that, we need to fix _this_ first," he said, taking the blanket off of Vincent revealing his left arm.

"Oh yeah, how are you gonna do that? You don't look like a doctor to me."

"This stuff will do you better then any doctor," he said shaking the glass bottle.

"How the hell is wine gonna help?"

Without answering his question, the man put the bottle to Vincent's mouth, forcing him to drink it. It had a rather bizarre taste and most strangely it had a hint of melon. After downing the entire thing, the man pulled the bottle back and watched Vincent expectantly.

"So what was that supposed to-"

Before Vincent could finish his remark, he felt an incredible amount of pain all over his body. His left arm was in the most pain compared to everything else. He could feel his bones snapping and reshaping, his wounds burned like fire as they sealed themselves up. The intense feeling made him want to cry out in agony but he couldn't muster the strength. Thankfully this horrible experience didn't last very long. As soon as it was over Vincent started gasping, taking in big gulps of air. He went to checked his arm he noticed that it had been completely healed. The only thing left was exhaustion.

"What the fuck was that?!" He said, still panting with his hand gripping his chest.

"Oh calm down, it worked didn't it?" He was right, all of Vincent's wounds, small and big, had been healed. There was no scarring and no residual pain, the only noticeable side effect was how exhausted he felt afterward.

The man looked at Vincent's chest, starring at the black crystals. "Well except for this bit here, I wonder why?" Vincent looked down at his chest, unlike everything else, the crystals remained as they were, unaffected by the magical liquid. _Why aren't these gone? Maybe_ _t_ _hey've become_ _a_ _part of me._

"I guess I should thank you for the help, the name's Vincent," he said extending his hand.

"Charles," he said in return, taking Vincent's hand and shaking it firmly. "Don't thank me, if I had it my way, I would've left you out there on the streets," he said in a grim tone.

"There was nothing stopping you."

"Not exactly. Tell me, how do you think people would react if a person left someone for dead when they could of done something?"

"You'd most likely be socially ostracized, and treated like dirt," Vincent responded in a rather casual tone.

"My point precisely," he said. He quickly got up to fetch his chair before setting it down beside the bed, sitting on it. "You don't seem upset that I'd leave you to die."

"Well most people would be but I can understand why you would do it. It's not like I'm your responsibility. I would have done things differently though, I'd get the person and leave them on someone's doorstep so they have to deal with them and I don't, it's genius."

"Damn it, why didn't I think of that."

"Maybe you're just stupid," Vincent said. Poking fun at Charles.

"Says the person who was wondering around at night in the forest with no protection and no weapons," Charles retorted. "What were you doing out there anyway?"

 _Oh shit! What do I say? Should I just tell him the truth? "I'm actually from another world and a man made out of black crystals with a pyramid for a head sent me to deliver a message to a spider." Oh god no, I'd sound like a crazy person! I've got to come up with a lie._

"Um… I was going for a walk and I got lost," he said. It sounded like he was trying to convince himself rather then Charles.

"You're a terrible lair," he said in a deadpanned voice.

"Yeah... You're right."

"Look, if you don't want to tell me, that's fine. I honestly couldn't give damn."

"Thanks," he said. Vincent appreciated that Charles wasn't nosy, that wasn't something he wanted right now. Or ever.

"So now that you're all better, you can get out of my house and go home."

 _That reminds me._

"Hey, silly question, but you wouldn't happen to know where I could find the spider queen, would you?"

I really do sound like a crazy person.

"Of course I do! Don't know a person who doesn't," Charles replied. He seemed almost insulted by the question. He was thoughtful for a moment, "Are you from the capital? Only those ignorant cowards wouldn't know where the spider queen lives," he said in a venomous tone.

 _I wonder why he doesn't like people from the capital?_

"No, I'm not from the capital," Vincent replied hurriedly.

Charles looked at him with suspicion for a minute, "Well you certainly seem like one, but what would a city man be doing all the way out here." Vincent could feel the hostility coming from Charles.

"I swear I'm not from the capital! I don't even know where the capital is!" He said in panic. It seemed this was enough to convince Charles.

"Fair enough then. You certainly don't dress like you're from the capital. Someone from there wouldn't even dare to dress like that. I don't think people from around here would even wear that."

 _Why does everybody have a problem with the way I dress? Is it really that bad?_

"You're not the first person to tell me that me clothes are bad," he mumbled to himself.

"What was that?"

"Oh nothing. By the way do you have anything to eat, I'm kinda hungry."

Charles sighed. "Sure. Follow me."

He got up from his seat and all walked out the door. Vincent climbed out of the blood stained bed. There was a lot of dried blood stuck to his arm as well. Walking though the wooden door lead him to a blacksmith shop of sorts. Unlike the bedroom, the walls and floors were made of stone. There were several tables with all manner of tools, most of them being different types of hammers and tongs. What really caught Vincent's attention was the weapons. All across the walls were a large variety of weapons. Swords, spears, axes, war hammers, you name it and it was there.

Charles was near the end of the rather spacious room. He was sorting through a pantry that seemed out of place in the room. Vincent walked up to him and stood waiting for his food and after a moment Charles handed him a small loaf of bread.

"Um, thanks?" Vincent said. He found it a bit weird that someone would just hand him a whole loaf of bread.

"What? Is there something wrong with it?"

"No, nothing wrong with it," he said, taking a bite out of the bread. With his mouth full, Vincent said, "So, back to my earlier question, where is the spider queen?"

"Firstly, finish your food before you talk please. Secondly, the spider queen lives in the caves at string mountain. You can see it from here and it's about a two hour walk."

 _String mountain? That's a bit of a weird name._

"Thanks... Well I'll be off now," Vincent said, heading for the front door.

"I wish you the best of luck, especially if you're going to the spider caves like that," Charles said jokingly.

Vincent stopped just short of the door. He was right, Vincent didn't have any weapons to defend himself with and he was still in his pajamas.

He turned around. "You wouldn't happen to have any weapons to spare, would you?" He said, acting as friendly as possible.

"God, you're hopeless," Charles said. He went over to one of him tables and picked up a sword, a sheath, and a belt, then handed them to Vincent, the equipment looked quite old. The sword definitely wasn't the most magnificent looking thing he'd seen, it was a regular short sword that had fair bit of rust on the blade and the leather on the sword grip was falling apart. The sheath wasn't any better off, it was busted up and had a hole on the side. The only thing that wasn't bad was the brown leather belt.

"I'm convinced that you found the worst stuff in your house and gave it to me," Vincent said in astonishment.

"Be grateful that I'm giving you anything at all. Take this money money as well and buy yourself some proper clothes with it, you look like a bum," he said reaching into his deep pockets and pulling out a coin pouch.

Vincent gladly accepted the money and placed it inside his satchel, "Thanks, but why are you doing this for me anyway? If I'm not mistaken, you said you wanted to leave me to die earlier."

"I'm not too sure myself kid, but kinda like you. You seem like someone I could get along with." He leaned in to whisper, "Just so you know, there's not a whole lot of people in this town that I can say that about," he said with a wink.

"You don't seem too bad yourself, but why are you whispering?"

"It's for emphasis."

"Alright then." Vincent stood there for a moment feeling awkward and not sure what to say. He was never sure what you were supposed to do before leaving a person's house. "So… I guess I'll be going now, see ya," he said with small wave before walking off.

"Good luck. Make sure you find shelter before nighttime."

"Huh? Why? What happens at nighttime?"

"You don't know why? You're definitively not from around here," he said surprised. "That's when the monsters come out."

"Um.. Okay then, thanks," Vincent replied, showing a mix of disbelief and confusion.

"With that face of yours I'm sure you'll be fine."

"Are you calling me ugly?!" he said, feeling insulted.

"No, you just have an angry face."

When Vincent thought about it Charles was right, his neutral face did look rather angry.

"See you around."

"Bye."

He stepped his way through the door and out into the morning light. The front of Charles shop had an anvil, a few furnaces, and a sign hanging out the front with the word 'Blacksmith' on it. All of this was under the cover of a wooden roof. He stepped out from underneath and onto the gravel path way, the gravel made a satisfying crunch every time he took a step.

Even though it was early in the morning people were still out in about tending to their daily tasks and tending to their crops. The surrounding houses were a mix of wood and stone, the roof wood and the walls stone. Most of them were a decent size with a good amount of space between the houses for the gravel path that was lined with grass. As Vincent walked down the path, he saw kids run around playing with each other.

As he continued to walk through the village he noticed that people were staring at him. At first he thought it was his outfit like usual, but he realised what they were really looking at the crystals in his chest. People keep their distance from him as they walked past him on the pathway. Even the children pointed, confused by the sight of him, the parents would quickly tell their child to stop pointing and go inside.

As Vincent strolled around town he eventually came to a stop at crossroad where a well rested in the center with a little stone roof and a bucket attached to a mechanism for lowering it down into the dark depths below. Nearby were a few lampposts with torches attached to them, a library, and a stone church or monastery of some kind.

 _This place is really big. Hmm, I wonder what religion people practice in this world?_

At that moment Vincent realised he didn't know where he was going. He'd just been walking around taking in the sights like a moron rather than getting stuff done. A feeling of regret came of over him as he remembered that he forgot to ask Charles directions to the shop, he dragged his hand across his face in frustration. Just then a was woman passing by, clearly trying to avoid him. That's when a brilliant idea came to mind.

 _Why don't I just ask her for direction?_

"Um excuse me, could you help me out?" Vincent said, trying to be polite as possible.

The woman turned to him is shock, clearly not expecting to be spoken to by this strange looking man.

"W-What do you need h-help with?" She stuttered. Vincent's angry looking face didn't help the situation as it was quite clear that this woman was afraid of him.

"Could you point me in the direction of the clothes shop?" He said with a smile. This also didn't help, the mix of the sweet smile and angry face gave Vincent a rather sinister appearance.

The nice woman was utterly terrified by now. Without a reply, she raised her hand shakily and point down the path left to the well.

"Thank you very much," he said, walking off. The woman took this opportunity to hurriedly walk off in the opposite direction while Vincent took the opportunity to put a frown on and walk in the direction indicated by the woman. He mumbled under his breath, clearly annoyed by the recent turn of events and even slightly hurt.

 _That woman was overreacting, I'm not that scary looking... am I?_

In a short span of time, he had reached the end of the gravel path which had left him standing in front of a shop. It was like all the other houses but what made it different was that it was made up entirely of wood instead of a mix of wood and stone. There was a small set of steps leading to a door, which had two big glass windows either side. Because the building was slightly raised, nothing could be seen through the window from where Vincent was standing.

As he walked up the steps he noticed a sign hanging next to the door.

 **Dear customer,**

 **Before entering there are some rules you must following when purchasing from my shop:**

 **1\. Know what you want to buy before entering and when you enter state what it is you want. No window shopping or browsing.**

 **2\. There will be no bargaining.**

 **3\. The quality of your clothes you purchase will depend on the amount of gold you have so bring as much as you can.**

 **4\. No refunds.**

 **Sincerely, the shopkeeper.**

Some of the rules seemed fair enough to Vincent, but he found the fist and third one to be strange.

 _Why am I not allowed to browse, seems a bit counter-intuitive_ _when running a clothes shop_ _. And what's up with number three? I_ _get the_ _feel_ _ing_ _that I'm_ _about to be mugged._

He shrugged it off. He twisted the door knob, swung the door open, and walked inside.

"Hi, I need some clothes for a little expedition I'm on to string mountain, I going to see the spider queen."

As soon as the words left his mouth, everything suddenly became a blur of motion, he caught glimpses measuring tape and long chestnut hair. He felt himself being measured all over while being spun around and before he knew it he was out the door without even being able to get a good look at the interior of the shop. He stood there dazed, stumbling around trying to understand what had just transpired.

When Vincent regained his sense of balance, he realised he was wearing different clothes. On his feet he had tan hiking boots with a black trim. His flannel pattern pajama bottoms had been replaced black jeans. His shirtless torso was covered with a red long sleeved shirt. With his new clothes, a sword at his side and a satchel hung over his shoulder, he felt like an adventurer, but he wondered where his old clothes had gone. He looked around nearby but couldn't see them.

 _Oh well, they were ruined anyway._

While looking around, he noticed that there was an envelope laid out on the ground in front of him. Picking it up and opening it, he found a letter inside.

 **Dear customer,**

 **Thank you for your purchase. Your request was bit strange and not very specific but I think you'll be satisfied with the clothing I have picked out for you. I also wish to inform you that I have taken the required amount of gold from your coin pouch. I hope to see at my shop again soon. Best of luck with your trip.**

 **Your sincerely, the shopkeeper.**

 **P.S. Why do you have those crystals stuck in your chest?**

It was at this moment that Vincent realised that he had been strip down and dressed while inside the shop. He also realised that he was wearing new underwear.

 _Oh god… Does that mean she…_

He felt his skin crawl and his face blush when he thought about the fact that he had been striped naked by a random girl in a clothes shop. He was able to compose himself and thought about the question at the end of the letter. He flipped the paper over and wrote his reply on the back.

 _Normally I wouldn't answer that but I'm feeling nice._

 **Dear shopkeeper,**

 **It's a long story that I can't be bother explaining properly but to put it vaguely, I was stabbed by a guy that looks like the mascot for the Illuminati. By the way, what's your name?**

 **Your sincerely, customer (a.k.a Vincent)**

He returned to the store and tried to open the door but found it was locked. Seeing no mail slot, Vincent slid the letter under the door and walked off. He wandered around for a while until he eventually found the entrance from yesterday. Seeing the gate from this side, Vincent saw that there were big hooks on the door for holding a nearby piece of wood.

 _I guess this is what passes for lock around here. They probably don't have it locked because security is more relaxed during the day and people probably come in and out all the time._

There were two guards standing at the door. They wore metal helms and chain mail armor with thick green clothing underneath. Their weapon of choice was a pike that was held at their side. The guard on the right looked at Vincent hard for moment. Vincent realised it was the guard from the night before. A looked of realization sweep across the guards face when he remembered who Vincent was.

"Hey! You're that boy from the last night," he said in surprise.

"Yep, that's me," he replied, uninterested.

"Looks like you've made a full recovery."

"Yeah, can we skip the small talk, I kind of need be going somewhere," he said. Vincent didn't want to waste time on stupid small talk with a stranger.

"Well alright then, where are you going?" The guard responded to Vincent's attitude.

"That doesn't concern you. Now let me through," he said bluntly.

"We're not letting you through until you tell me," he said. The guard and his friend stood waiting for an answer.

 _Fucking hell…_

Vincent let out a groan before saying, "I'm going to string mountain… To see the spider queen."

The guards paused for a moment before bursting into uproarious laughter, wiping away tears with their leather gloves.

"What the hell are you laughing for?" Vincent said, annoyed with the guards insulting laughter.

"You think a runt like you can come face to face with the spider queen, you must be out of your mind."

"I'll manage," he replied, through gritting his teeth.

"With what? That flimsy sword of yours and no armor. With that shit you're destined for failure," he said pointing to Vincent's sword and clothes.

The guard hit a nerve. The one thing Vincent didn't want to follow him to this world was the word failure. He had been labeled that far too many times.

Vincent got up in the guard's face shouting, "You think I can't do it, dickhead! I'll show you, you little prick! I'll come back with proof and make you eat you're own fucking words you cheeky cunt! Now get the fuck out of my way!" After going Gordon Ramsey on the guard, he pushed the guard out of the way and stormed out through the wooden gate into the open world on a course straight for string mountain with fury in his eyes and determination in his heart.

A/N

I finally finished, thank god. So how was it? Do you have any criticisms? Let me know in your review. Also, I know I use a lot of swearing but that's just the kind of character Vincent is and that's just the kind of story this is going to be.

BTW, I hope I did better with the typos this time.


	3. Chapter 3: Dead man walking

**A/N**

 **Hey guys, it's been a while. That's a bit of an understatement isn't it, two months, that's twice as long as last time, and I don't have any real excuse for my negligence. It's mainly a combination of me constantly distracting myself and bad work ethic. So I'd like to give my sincerest apologizes to you guys for taking so long. Enough of me kissing your ass now, I have some news to share. I've gotten beta now, which should improve the quality of the story and help get those typos all you guys hate so much.**

 **Beta: Crafted Reality**

 **Chapter 3: Dead man walking**

Vincent had been marching towards string mountain for a while. The anger he had previously was gone, his serene surroundings had calmed him down and made him more relaxed. He was strolling through a wide open field made of tall grass that came up to his knees. The sun had risen quite high since his departure. Now it was no longer resting just above the horizon and was instead directly overhead. It was somewhat warm, but there was a constant yet gentle breeze keeping the traveler cool under the shinning sun. The wind pushed at the tall grass making the field resemble a vast green ocean as the vegetation swayed back and forth. The air was fresh and clean, which vastly differed to the city air he was used to breathing.

Far to his right was the oak forest. The tree line was too thick to see anything more than a few meters deep into woodland. To his left he could see that the plains eventually turned into steep rocky hills. There was big gap right in the middle that led into a canyon. He focused his attention back to the mountain looming in the distance. It soared high into the sky, desperately reaching for the clouds above, just short of reaching it's goal.

He pulled his phone out from his satchel, put his earphones in, and hit play. As walked he began to ponder.

 _I wonder what the spider queen is like? Will they just be a giant spider or is it going to be some woman who rules over all spider despite not being a spider herself? From the things I've seen so far it wouldn't surprise me. Hopefully I can get this over and done with soon so I can go back home._

He eventually reached the point where the snow and plains meet. Just like back in the forest the two environments jarringly transitioned into one another. He braced himself for the cold as he entered the freezing plains. The tall grass was no gone and the sun was blocked out by the clouds. The forest on the right had turned from oak to spruce and the rocky hills to the left transformed into a desolate wasteland of tall ice spikes. The wind whipped at his face fiercely. He gripped him body tightly in an attempt to keep himself warm.

He hurried towards the mountains but as he got closer he noticed that the it was actually split in two. Since he was coming from the plains he couldn't see it due to the angle but now that he was up close it was quite obvious. The split created a wide valley that ran in between from one end to the other. As he stood there in the snow shivering he looked around for where the cave entrance might be. He eventually spotted a hole in the side of the mountain close the valley.

He walked in quickly as to get away from the freezing winds. As he stood in the entrance he gave his equipment a once over. The first time he looked at the sword Charles gave him he thought it wasn't too bad but looking at it now he wondered if he was tapped in the head or something. As he felt the edge of the blade he found that it was dull and swinging it light would cause the blade it wobble in it's socket.

"Why do I get the feeling that I've been set up," he said as he sheathed his sword.

The mouth of the cave was dimly lit by the sun but a few more meters forward lead to seemingly impenetrable darkness. Except for the howling wind, the cave was eerily quiet giving it an ominous feel. It was rather spacious as well, about six people could walk shoulder-to-shoulder with some room to spare and someone twice Vincent's size would have no problem walking around.

He adjusted his satchel before taking a couple steps forward until he reached the edge of the darkness. Thinking back on it, he wished he had brought a lantern or something of the sort with him. Looking down he noticed that the floor was littered with stray gold coins and thick strands of hair longer than his palm.

"What the hell am I gonna do now?" He said while letting out a heavy sigh.

"Everything alright? You seem like you're having some trouble." The words had been whispered directly into his right ear. He spun around to face the new voice while simultaneously backing away, but due to being caught off guard he tripped over himself and landed on his behind with his back to the wall.

Standing before him was a short girl who must have been at least a year or two younger than him. She had bright red hair that was done up in twin pigtails. The colour of her hair matched her eyes, which shined like rubies. She wore a blue shirt that was tucked into a pair of short that where a darker shade of gray. Around her waist was a black leather belt, which a sheath for a dagger held onto. There was a little strap over the top of the sheath, keeping the dagger that laid within extra secure. Strangely, she wasn't any form of footwear, leaving her exposed to the frigid cold.

"Who the hell are you?!" Vincent demanded. To his surprise, the girl began to chuckled at his reaction. Unnerved he drew his sword but before it was halfway out of the sheath the girl had closed the distance between them in the blink of an eye, now pressing the once sheath dagger to his throat.

He froze. One wrong move and he would be dead. Whilst smiling like a hunter that had caught it's prey, the girl stared right into his eye's giving her a dangerous yet childish aura about her.

"So what brings you here, adventurer? Hoping to steal from the great spider queen?" Her cheerful tone was mixed with that of a threatening one making the girl seem quite sinister.

"N-no! Not at all!" He chocked out. It took a fair amount of effort for him to get his words past the lump in his throat.

" _Oh really?_ " The girl cocked her head to the side, clearly not believing a word he said.

"I swear! I'm just here to deliver a message!" He pleaded with the girl while keeping his hands up.

"Oh… So you're the new messenger? Why didn't you say so?" In an instant the girl's demeanor changed as she stood up and sheathed her dagger while extending her hand to help him up. Slowly he took the girl's hand and stood upon wobbly legs while adrenaline coursed through his veins making him breath heavy and fast.

"So where's there's message of yours? I hope I didn't help you up just to kill you." The girl spoke casually while stretching.

He hastily sorted through his satchel and soon brought out the important document. The girl snatched it from his hands, opened it and gave it a quick once-over before handing it back.

"Seems legit. Let's go, I'll take you to mother."

 _Mother?_

"Um… You wouldn't happen to have a torch, would you?" Vincent asked.

"What for? Oh yeah, that's right, humans can't see in the dark. I'll be just a second." The girl disappeared into the darkness of the cave not long before swiftly returning with a glass bottle filled with a dark blue liquid. The girl handed it to him.

"Here. Drink this."

" _Oh great!"_ He spoke sarcastically. "Another bottle filled with a strange liquid, have you slipped a couple roofies into it?"

The girl looked quite puzzled. "What's a roofie?"

"Don't worry about, kid." He spoke while downing the suspicious drink.

"I'm not a kid, I'm 15." The girl sulked.

"I don't really care."

He could feel the drink taking effect as the once dim surroundings became brighter by the second until it was as if the sun was lighting the entire cave.

"What the hell is this stuff anyway?"

"You don't know? It's called a potion of night vision." The girl was surprised by his lack of knowledge of this world.

"Huh, you don't say." He spoke, mildly impressed. "At least this one didn't make me go through excruciating pain like the last one."

"Ah, that must have been a healing potion. Not everyone likes them." The girl clapped her hands together. "Let's get going now, times a wasting"

The two set off into the depths of the cave system, which was more maze-like than he had expected. The cave would constantly change direction and it had a surplus of branching paths. It was a labyrinth through and through.

As he walked beside the skipping girl, he decided to start up a conversation, hoping to get some information.

"So… What's your name?"

"Scarlet. It's a great name, right?" She said cheerfully.

"A bit on the nose but it's alright I guess."

"What's your name then?"

"Vincent. It's a great name, right?" He said overly cheerfully, mocking Scarlet's cheery tone.

"Vincent? Never heard that one before, it's pretty weird."

"To each their own, I guess."

There was a moment before the conversation continued.

"Quick question, how aren't you freezing to death right now? You aren't even wearing any shoes."

"That's because I'm a spider." She nonchalantly.

 _Wait… What the fuck? Did I hear her wrong?_

"I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that. What did you say?"

"I said I'm a spider, silly." She gave a light chuckle.

"Uh-huh, you don't say."

 _I'm pretty certain that I'm just following a crazy person. Maybe there really was roofies in that potion and I'm just dreaming._

He pinched his arm, which hurt more due to the cold, and to his disappointment it wasn't dream. The girl noticed hi's odd behavior.

"You don't believe me, do you?!" She asked, clearly offended.

He couldn't hold back his sarcasm. " _Of course_ I believe you. It makes perfect sense."

This angered Scarlet further and she began pouting.

"I'll prove it to you then!" She declared with one hand pointing at him.

" _Oh, really now?_ " He spoke with a smug grin while crossing his arms. "Show me then."

"This will wipe that stupid grin off your face."

He stood waiting with one eyebrow cocked, clearly still in doubt of the short girl. Scarlet spun on here heel to face the cave wall and began walking towards it. He was confused at first as to what the girl was trying to do but it soon became abundantly clear when the Scarlet began to walk up the wall. He stood there slack-jawed and gawking at the girl who was now standing on the ceiling of the cave. She looked down at him and smiled at his bewilderment.

"Cool, right?" She said happily.

"How are you doing that?" He said, amazed by the sight.

"The same way as any other spider."

"So... what? You have tiny little hairs all over your body or something?" He guessed.

"Just on my palms and the bottom of my feet." She said while indicating towards both.

He looked back down towards the floor. _So she's kinda like spider-man then. What the fuck have I gotten myself into?_

He looked back towards the ceiling when he heard a quite cry of dismay.

"Uh oh..." Was all that was said before the girl once attached to the ceiling began to plummet to the floor head first.

 _Shit! I've got to catch her!_

Quickly he dived for the spot she was falling, falling to his knees. Half way through the girl's tumble she did a flip and nimbly landed on his face feet first before promptly jumping off and landing like an acrobat. She laughed as Vincent remained as he was, completely still and on his knees once waiting to save the girl.

"My god, you're so easy to trick." She managed to say in between her incessant giggling.

Abruptly, he got up and pointed towards the girl. "You asshole! You scared me half to death with that stunt!" He spoke with a mix of relief and annoyance. This did not discourage the girl from her joyous laughter, instead it seemed to have the opposite effect, as she began to double over and hold her sides.

"Fuck me… I didn't realise I was stuck down here with a YouTube prankster." He muttered under his breath.

It didn't take long before the girl collected herself and they were back on their way. Unable to hold back his curiosity, it wasn't long before he had started up another conversation.

"If you're a spider than why do you look human?"

"Man, you really are a newbie, aren't you?"

"Well I just started yesterday, so yeah."

"Oh well. The reason I look like a human is because I'm a representative."

"The hell is a representative."

"My god, you have a lot of questions." She let out a sigh while dragging her hand over face. "Okay, pay attention. Each mob race has representative that acts as a proxy for the mob rulers, lords, kings, queens, or whatever you want to call them."

"How many mob races are there?"

"Quite a few but only five have rulers, unless you count the void as well."

"Why only five?"

"They're the main ones."

"What are they called?"

"You've got spiders, skeletons, creepers, zombies, and endermen."

"Why are they the main five?"

She gave a shrug. "I dunno know. I just remember the basics."

"Okay, but why do the rulers need proxies."

"They're all trap or banished. Can't do anything on their own."

"Why were they banished?" He was getting more and more curious by the second.

"Again, I don't know."

"That's fair. Why are-" He was abruptly cut off.

"Stop! For the love of god just stop! No more questions! You're making my brain hurt!" The words burst from her mouth, fueled by annoyance. He hadn't noticed that his questioning was bothering Scarlet.

"Oh, Sorry..."

There was a long pause.

He turned to the girl with a finger raised inquisitively. "Can I just ask one more question?"

Scarlet pinched the bridge of her nose while letting out exasperated sigh. "Fine. What is it?"

"Why are the representatives human, or at least look human?"

"Apparently it helps us blend in with your kind while also helping to differentiate us from regular mob of our kind. I don't know how true that is though."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." She said begrudgingly.

The silence came creeping back as the two walked through the cave. As they got further he noticed that the cave was gradually being covered with an increasing amount cobwebs and hair. He felt relief when they came to opening that appeared to lead into a larger area.

"Finally, I've been in these tight caves for so long that I can feel the claustrophobia starting to get to me." He said with relief.

But when stepped through the opening relief was the exact opposite of what he felt. The opening lead into a behemoth of a cavern. What made him so uneasy was what was inside the cavern. And in every direction he looked he saw giant tarantulas that size of Great Danes and as furry as a Husky. Their hair was a mix of dark gray and black, but there were also smaller ones that were dark blue and black. What frightened him greater was the big cocoons of web that emitted the sounds of animals and some human muffles could be heard as well. Spiders marched back and forth between giants webs suspended high above, tending to cocoons and strangely some could be seen carrying gold further down into the cavern. The cavern was alive with the sound of scuttles and muffled screams.

Scarlet gave him a light tap on the shoulder. "As much as I love your terrified face right now, we have other things we need to be doing instead of standing around. So come on, let's go!" She said with vim and vigor before gleefully skipping ahead of him. She stopped when she realized he wasn't following.

"You coming or what?" She said whilst placing her hands on her hips.

"Nah, fuck that."

"What, why?"

He began to point all around the cavern. "All of this right here, this is just fucked."

"What do you mean?" Scarlet tiled her head in confusing.

"This place makes my skin crawl actually it does more than that, it makes my skin want to tear itself off of me and run away to safety."

"Geez, you really are scared, aren't you?" She said with a smirk.

"If I haven't made that clear to you then yes, I am scared."

Scarlet let out a sigh before trudging over to him and extending a hand. "If you're going to be such a baby about it then you can hold my hand while we go through."

He looked down at the girl's hand. He didn't want to take her hand like a frightened little child but the looming threat of death for failing his objective forced him to swallow his pride and take her hand. It was Scarlet who now donned a smug look as she led him through the cavern like mother holding a child's hand. As they walked he noticed a blue spider feasting on one of the web cocoons on the ground next to them but hastily looked away and gripped the girl's hand tighter which caused her to let out a giggle.

It wasn't long before the pair reached the other end of the cavern. There was a large tunnel made of a rock different to the surrounding stone, it had a mix of black and grays in it. He quickly let go of the Scarlet's hand and began to wipe the sweat off his hand.

"Aw, you don't want to hold my hand?" Scarlet teased.

"No thank you, I'll be fine."

She pretending to wipe away a tear. "Kids grow up so fast."

"Who are you calling a kid? You little brat!"

His aggression merely garnered a giggle from the short girl.

"You're funny Vincent."

"Whatever you say," he huffed.

Scarlet led the way and he followed close behind. They weren't the only ones walking through the tunnel, they were accompanied by many spiders all of which were carrying gold.

"Hey, Scarlet."

"Yeah."

"I noticed the stone in this tunnel was different from everything else so far, why?"

"It's bedrock you silly, didn't you know that?"

"Nope."

"You truly are clueless."

"Yeah, I guess so."

They emerged from the cave. He found himself inside a giant dome made of bedrock as high as a fifty story building and twice as wide as a football stadium. There were giant columns where stalactites and stalagmites and a mountains of gold with the items ranging from swords to goblets. The whole place reminded him of a somewhere Smaug would live. He watched as the spiders that were carrying gold marched like ants toward to pile and then dump what ever gold they possessed onto the pile.

"So where's this mother of yours at?" He said while looking around.

"One second I'll call her." Scarlet made a cone around her mouth to help project her voice, "Mother!"

The once unmoving pile of gold began to shake and tremble as a giant golden abdomen slowly rose from within. Eventually a giant golden spider appeared from the gold, it had eyes like big rubies and was hairless like unlike it's kin. It was as big as two double-decker buses stack on top of one another and ten times as wide. It sauntered over to the front of the pile of gold on it's spindly legs, right where he and Scarlet stood, it's glassy eyes seemed fixated on Vincent.

"Mother, this is Vincent, the new courier." She said while gesturing to the now petrified Vincent. "He has come to deliver message." She turned to him expecting him to take out the document but he remained stiff like a statue, completely terrified by the monster before him.

Scarlet let out a sigh, "Fine, I'll do it myself." She grabbed the document for his satchel and began to read it out to the gold spider, but instead of English the girl spoke with a strange series of clicks and screeches. When she was done her _mother_ responded is the same dialect, moving her giant mandibles. When the spider was finished, Scarlet sorted through Vincent's satchel for a pen, not bothering to ask.

Scarlet signed the paper and then handed it back to him. Before they started to leave the queen let out a couple clicks and screeches. It seemed that she told Scarlet to give him a reward. She briefly searched through the pile before picking up a golden goblet and stuffing it in the Vincent's satchel. She then escorted him back to the mouth of the cave, which by then he had recovered from his petrified state. When the two finally reached the mouth of the cave, Scarlet started to make fun of him for being scared.

"You should have seen your face, you look liked you'd wet your pants!" She began to roll on the floor while laughing.

"Shut up!"

"Okay, okay, I'll stop."

"What did you need me for anyway? Couldn't you have given her the message yourself after I gave it to you."

A huge grin appeared on her face. "I guess you're right, but I just had to see your reaction."

"So what? This was all just a joke, a prank?" He said angrily.

Scarlet didn't respond, instead she stuck her tongue out playfully before running away into the shadows of the cave.

"Hey! Get back here you little shit!" He immediately gave up on chasing her and decided to venture back into the snowy tundra. It was then he was struck with an odd feeling, it was almost like something was calling him to return to that thing's _office._ He couldn't quite explain it, he just felt that he needed to return but the question was how to return.

 _What did that thing say again? I think he said something about returning the same way I'll leave, which means I need to find a portal some how._ _He also said he gave me some of his power, does that mean…? Well it's worth a shot._

He approached the side of the mountain and stretched his arms to get himself warmed up.

"Okay, let's give this a go."

He pressed his hands against the rock and started to visualize where he wanted to go. He felt an odd feeling all over his body, it was as if he was using a new muscle. He felt his hands slowly push through the cold stone. To his surprise, he noticed that he was able to create a portal like the crystal creature, except much smaller. The space was just big enough to fit his hands so tried to stretch the portal. This wall much more taxing than he was anticipating as he strained this strange new muscle of his. Finally, he was able to make the portal big enough and he stepped through back into the familiar office, in the exact spot he was kicked from when he was last here.

The crystal creature looked up from his desk at him.

"Would you mind closing that, you're letting snow in." It requested while pointing to the portal behind Vincent.

"Sure thing!" He turned to the portal behind him but soon turned back around. "…How do I do that?"

The thing continued to work on it's papers. "Just will it to close. Usually snapping your fingers or clapping your hands helps."

He gave it a try. He snapped his fingers while willing the portal to close and sure enough it worked.

"Thanks for the help."

"You're welcome. Now then, did deliver the document to the spider queen?" He asked as he put his pen down and locked his fingers in front of him.

"Oh yeah, I have it right here." He took out the paper and handed it over.

The creature took it hand looked it over with it's giant eye. It gave a satisfied nod and handed it back.

"Good job. Now go and deliver this to the skeleton king."

"You seem a lot more nicer than you did the first time we met."

"Ah yes, I'd like to apologizes for my earlier behavior, I'm do not normally act that way. I've under a lot of stress while waiting for my new proxy and when I saw that you were a child-"

"Not a child."

"-I thought that you would be incapable of fulfilling your role as my proxy, but you have proved yourself quite capable, and for that I am sorry."

"Don't sweat it. You only choked me and then kicked me down the side of a mountain." He replied sarcastically.

The creature spoke sheepishly, "I was rather aggressive, wasn't I?"

"You can say that again, whatever your name is."

"How rude of me, I forgot to introduce myself. I am the keeper of the void but you may address me as keeper or boss, whichever you're more comfortable."

"Alright then… Keeper, where can I find the skeleton king."

"He's just down the valley in between the mountain in a stone fortress, it's hard to miss."

"I'll be on my way then."

"One piece of advice. When you're traveling down the valley on guard for skeletons, they're more of a 'shoot first ask questions later' type."

" _Great_." He let out a deep sigh and lowered his head. "I can't wait to go home."

"You make it sound as if you are not from this world."

"That's because I'm not from this world."

Keeper was taken aback. "Surely you jest."

"Does it look like I'm joking!"

"If you truly are from another world then prove it to me." He crossed his arms and leaned back expectantly.

Vincent paused for a moment to think but then reached for the his phone and place in front of Keeper.

 _I really hope they don't have phones in this world._

Keeper picked up the object and inspected it. "What is this strange item?"

"It's a phone."

"In all my time I've never seen such a thing."

"Is this good enough for proof."

"It's satisfactory." He handed the phone back.

"So when do I get to go home?" He asked with a heart full of hope.

Keeper was startled by his question. "Pardon?"

"When do I get to go home?"

"Well due to the situation and the circumstances surrounding it-"

"Answer the damn question!" He shouted while slamming a hand on Keeper's desk.

"...Never..."

Furious, Vincent grabbed Keeper by the collar of his jacket and lifted him from his seat.

"You son of a bitch! Why did you choose me?! Is this some kind of punishment?!" He was yelling inches from Keeper's face.

"I don't know why, I don't choose the souls-"

Keeper sudden became silent. It was obvious he said something he shouldn't of. The silence in the air became heavy and Vincent's face changed from angry to worried.

He nervously licked his lips. "What do you mean _souls_?"

"You weren't supposed to know this but… you died."

He let go of Keeper's collar and stumbled away in disbelief. "N-no way, you're lying! I don't even remember dying! The last thing I did before coming here was going to sleep!"

Keeper straightened his suit before sitting in his chair. "The memories leading up to the proxy's death are erased. It stops them from going into hysterics the moment they arrive."

Vincent curled up in a ball under the window with his head in his hands. "This can't be happening to me."

Keeper spoke in a sympathetically. "I know this must be hard for you but I'm afraid it's true."

There was a long silence as the two sat there not saying a word. Vincent was the first to speak after standing back up.

"I'm just gonna go now." His voice was weak and full of despair.

"Very well then. Some advice for the road, you can only create portals to places you have been."

"Thanks." There was no appreciation in his voice.

And with that he left the room through a portal, carrying a heavy heart. When the portal was closed the room was filled with the well-known sound of a pen quietly scratching against paper.

 **A/N**

 **I hope this chapter was at least worth the wait. Let me know what you think and share your criticisms in your review. Also, I know I didn't copy how the spider should look from mob talker but I didn't want to be lazy and steal the design, plus I wanted to add my own spin on it. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed.**


	4. Chapter 4: Oh captain! My captain!

**A/N**

 **Before you guys start reading I'd like to apologize for how late this chapter is. Thing like exams came up but the fault mainly falls on me for being a lazy piece of shit and constantly putting this off by distracting myself with other stuff. Even though it's been a long time I'm still hoping that this chapter will be up to your standards. Anyway, that's all I had to say.**

 **Chapter 4: Oh Captain! My Captain!**

 **Beta: Crafted Reality**

Once again, Vincent stepped out into the frigid cold. He looked up to the cloudy sky with a heavy heart and took in a deep breath.

"Why is this happening."

With heavy footsteps he trudged through the ever falling snow, following along the side of the mountain until he came to a valley that split the black mountain in two. From the entrance Vincent could see that the valley was completely barren of life but most notably snow. The path was made up of gray dirt and rocks, and was wide enough to fit five cars side by side. The walls of the valley where jagged and towered high above making him feel trapped. As he entered he felt the temperature change again, it was still cold but compared to the icy tundra it was welcome change. The sudden deafening silence pressed heavy on his ears, which was an abrupt change to the violent winds that didn't dare follow into the valley.

As he stepped through the desolate valley he felt the dirt crunch beneath his feet. The air smelt of dust and was unpleasant to breath. The valley stretch far into the distance with it's height matching the mountain's as it sloped up and down in parallel. Due to the sun being right above him, Vincent's surroundings were perfectly illuminated but it wouldn't be long before the valley would be shrouded in it's own shadow. It was a while before Vincent came across anything of significance, about half way down the valley there way a large section of the mountain that had been carved out. The area was fairly large and reached up to the top of the mountain so there was no ceiling. There was a large iron double door covered in studs and on each side was a watchtower made of wood. As he approached the doors a voice called out to him from the left watchtower.

"Halt!" The voice was deep and spoke with authority.

Vincent did as he was told. "Hey, is this the where I can find the skeleton king? Or am I in the wrong place?

"What's it to you intruder?" The second voice came from the right watchtower. It had a more nasally sound and gave off no sense of authority.

"I'm here to deliver a message, I'm the new messenger." He shouted to the disembodied voices.

The left voice emerged from the shadow of their single manned watchtower, revealing a skeleton equipped with a bow and quiver. The sun had moved by now, covering the entire valley in shadow.

"Oh really? Well I've got a message for you." The left one spoke as the right one appeared from his watchtower as well.

They simultaneously armed their bows with bone like arrows and aimed at Vincent. Feeling a bit jumpy Vincent got in a defensive position.

"So what's this message you've got for me?"

The left skeleton spoke. "Well it's actually an invitation, TO THE AFTERLIFE!"

Vincent flinched and raised his arms as both of the guards let loose their arrows simultaneously. And then… nothing happened. Vincent opened his eyes to see that the arrows didn't hit him, they barley even made it halfway to him.

"...Are you fucking serious? Is your strategy to kill me with disappointment?"

"W-Wait! Give us a second to try again!" The left skeleton's once authoritative and deep voice change and now had a more nasally voice like his counterpart except it seemed to shake like it was hard to speak.

"You want me to wait so you can shoot me again! Do you think I'm some kind of moron! Fuck this!" Feeling insulted the question, he stomped towards the iron doors.

The right skeleton squeaked in disapproval. "Stop or else we'll be forced to shoot."

"Good. I hope you fucking kill me." He spoke fiercely as he pressed against the doors.

The two skeletons armed their bows yet again and shot. The space between the watchtowers was rather small so instead of falling short their arrows instead sailed right over Vincent's head.

Vincent let out a tired sigh. "You two are hopeless."

With a bit of effort the iron doors scraped open, letting out a loud, rusted creak. The room resembled a well kept medieval dungeon except for it's enormous size. He was surprised by the spacious size of the interior, he guessed that a giant could stand up comfortably inside. His noisy entrance had drawn attention to him, the dozen of skeletons that littered the place turned to face the newcomer.

 _Maybe marching in head first unannounced wasn't the best idea…_

The skeletons immediately dropped the items they were carrying and swarmed him. Luckily none were equipped with a bow, so before any got too close Vincent unsheathed his sword and took a defensive position as it wobbled unnaturally in it's hilt. The swarm had pushed him into a corner but none were brave enough to approach.

"That's right, stay back!" Vincent swung his sword for emphasis but that's when it all went wrong. With a single swing the blade was sent flying out of it's hilt into the distance leaving Vincent unarmed.

"Charles you son of a bitc-!" Before he could finishing cursing Charles he was quickly dog piled and trapped under a mountain of bones. He could have easily escaped if there were only a few of them since they didn't weigh that much because they were only bones, but due to the sheer number of them he was overwhelmed.

The skeletons were arguing among themselves. It seemed they were trying to figure out who to send to get the captain. It wasn't long before a skeleton jumped off the top and disappeared down a hallway yelling "Captain! Captain!."

The skeleton soon returned with what Vincent assumed was their captain. A woman dressed in a military uniform patterned with white and gray camo. She had her white hair tied up in a knot and wore a cap with the same camo. Looking to be in her late twenties, she stood straight and took every stride with precision. Just by looking at her you could tell that she held a position of authority. She strode across the room to the pile of bones and looked down at Vincent with her gray eyes as he looked back with brown eyes.

 _Please be kind._

"Hi there. I'm the new courier, I'm here to deliver a-" He was quickly cut off when boot slammed down on top of his his right hand. He quietly grimaced in pain, too adsorbed by it to speak.

"Who let this in!?" She shouted.

The two guards that were on watch approached her timidly with their head down. One of them spoke up in a shaky voice. "U-Us captain..."

The captain then snapped to the pile. "The four of you on top, take these two to solitude."

"Right away captain!" The skeletons scrambled off the pile and took firm hold of the watchmen pair.

"The two of you will reflect on your failure for the next seven days." She said coldly.

The pair began to struggle and shout. "Please no! Forgive us!" Their pleads were slowly drowned out as they were dragged away.

"The rest of you buffoons, take this... _this_ to a cell. I'll deal with it later." She then turned began to walk off.

The dog pile quickly disassembled and shortly Vincent was being hauled away.

"Wait! Why are you doing this!? I'm a courier!?" He yelled at the woman.

"I'm doing this _because_ you're a courier." She replied without even turning around to face him.

It wasn't long before Vincent was locked up in medieval style cell. The dungeon was dimly lit by torches held by torch holders that were mounted on the wall. The stone brick walls were crawling with green moss like an infection and the floor was sprinkled with ash from the torches. Vincent sat quietly against the wall opposite of the rusty iron bars as he took in the stench of the dungeon. Either he was the only one there or everyone else was remaining silence because the only sound that could be heard was the flickering of the torches. The only piece of _furniture_ inside the cell was a well-worn leather mat in the corner. Finding it impossible to find a comfortable spot on the floor, he stood up and paced around the cell thinking.

 _What the hell should I do now? It's at least been an hour by now but that bitch still hasn't arrived. I can't just sit around on my ass, I need to do something! Wait… What if I make a portal and escape? That won't work, I still need to deliver that message. Alright then, I'll just make portal to the entrance room and improvise from there._

With a half-baked plan in mind, he went over to the wall he was previously sitting against. He cracked his fingers to warm up and then pressed them against the wall. It was about a minute before he realised nothing was happening.

"Oh for gods sake! Just work will you!" He began to press his fingers all over the wall in a frenzy that was short-lived.

"What in the world are you doing?" Vincent immediately stopped what he was doing and turned around to see the woman from before staring at him with a puzzled expression.

"Holy shit! When did you get there!?"

"Since moment you started poking at the wall like a creep." She replied with a face of disgust.

"What? Why didn't you say anything then?"

"I was trying to work out what you were doing but for the life of me I couldn't understand." She shook her head, still clearly baffled by Vincent's actions

"Oh, um, alright then. Since you're here I presume you're going to _deal with me_ now."

"You presume correctly. What is your business here?" She crossed her arms awaiting an answer.

"What am I doing here? I'm a courier, what the fuck do you think I'm here for?"

"Don't give me lip, you mutt. Weaklings, like you couriers, don't have the right to talk back." She snapped back.

"You don't know I'm weak, you don't know a damn thing about me." Vincent approached the bars, standing face-to-face with the captain as she stared him down.

"You're a courier, that's all I need to know that you're weak." The captain continued to stare him down.

"How about you let me out of this cell, then I'll show you who's really weak."

"Sadly, I'm busy person so I don't have time to properly put you in your place but I believe this will suffice."

The captain walked over to the cell door and unlocked it with one of the multiple keys attached to her key chain. Vincent went to rushed her with a right swing, but his attack rapidly came to an end as the captain grabbed his wrist, tripped him over and pinned him within the blink of an eye. He laid there with his face press against the cold floor as the captain took a pair of hand cuffs from her belt and attached them to each of his wrists.

"Let's go now."

He was roughly hoisted to his feet and led out into the hall. They had made their way up the winding stone staircase before speaking again.

"Hey." He said over his shoulder.

"What is it?" She replied frustrated.

"Can you do me a favour and scratch my right ear for me?" He tried to rub his ear against his shoulder, "I've got this itch and it's driving me insane?"

The captain let out a heavy sigh. "How did someone as pathetic as you even manage to break into here?"

"With guards like that I'm sure even a paraplegic could get through without a problem."

The captain grimaced from the mention of the guards. "Those imbeciles have been dealt with. After a few days in solitude they'll be put into intense training and be made into fine soldiers." She nodded as if she was reassuring herself.

A smirk spread across Vincent's lips. "Fine soldiers? Like the ones who dog piled me like a bunch of idiots?"

"It worked, didn't it? Consider yourself lucky, if my troops were armed you'd be dead."

During their talk they had made their way deeper into the mountain. The skeleton fortress was much more organized and clean compared to the spider caves. Unlike the dungeon, the walls were made of pristine stone and the floors were clean. Footsteps and chatter echoed throughout the arched halls as Vincent marched towards the unknown.

It wasn't long before they had reached their destination. They arrived at solid iron double door guarded by two skeletons, one on each side. They wore iron armor from head to toe and were equipped with iron short bows and matching arrows that were held in leather quivers. Their armor was decorated with various thorny swirl like patterns. The two said nothing as the captain opened the doors and pushed Vincent through.

Vincent stumbled into a gigantic square room about a hundred meters in length and was twice as tall as it was long. The roof was covered with some sort of mysterious glowing rock that shone as bright enough to engulf the entire room with it's light. Currently Vincent stood upon a giant red and gold carpet that extended to the end of the room where a giant throne awaited those who entered. The throne was made entirely of bedrock and was about half the height of the room. It was actually more akin to electric chair than a throne due to the bedrock restraints on the legs and arms of the chair, which held a giant skeleton wearing a golden crown. On either side of the behemoth was a bow and quiver to match his size. It would be an understatement to say that Vincent felt like an ant.

The captain kept shoving Vincent down the carpet towards the giant until they were about halfway, then the captain knelt down on one knee with her head down while Vincent stood beside her.

"I am sorry to disturb you my liege." Compared to how she was acting earlier, the captain was behaving very humbly.

The giant spoke back in a dark and deep voice. "There is no need for the formalities captain Cotter."

"Of course my liege." She promptly stood up straight with her hands by her side.

"Why is it that you are here to see me?"

"It seems after these past five years a new courier has arrived and he has brought a message."

"Let me hear this message."

"Present your message or be killed where you stand." Vincent already thought that the captain was ferocious but she was even more so when in front of her king.

"Jesus Christ, calm down. Besides I couldn't even if I wanted, if you haven't noticed I'm in a bit of a bind right now."

"Captain Cotter, release this man from his restraints."

"But my liege!" She shouted back in protest.

The king took on a mocking tone. "What is the matter captain? Surely you do not fear a pathetic courier?"

Vincent was becoming annoyed. "You know I'm not really liking this discrimination going on here."

The captain was quick to retort. "Silence mutt!" She grasped Vincent's handcuffs and removed them within a second. "Now present your message." It was clear that the captain was running out of patience.

Vincent massaged his wrists, raw and tender from the handcuffs. He reached into his satchel withdrew the sorely sort after letter. He then handed it to the captain.

"Here. I've been told not to read it."

The captain snatched it from his hands. "So be it."

As the captain read the letter her face changed from one of anger to one of deep shock.

"What does it say captain?" The king spoke with curiosity.

"I-It's a proposition… for an alliance between the five mob races and the couriers."

"Hmm… An interesting proposition indeed. This could be beneficial." He spoke thoughtfully.

"But my liege, we all ready have an alliance with the spiders! Do we really need to stoop so low as to make an alliance with a courier!"

"Captain Cotter! Do not be blinded by your pride. This is all to aid a common goal, you still remember what that is, do you not?

She dip her head in shame. "Yes my lord, the eradication of mankind."

"Exactly, and this alliance would prove useful, would it not?"

"It would." She admitted in defeat.

"Excellent! Now then, what needs to be done in order show our agreement?"

"It appears that we must sign at the bottom of the letter. Did you bring a pen?"

Vincent dug around in his satchel until he found it then passed it to the captain. She hesitated at first but still signed the letter. When she was done, the letter and pen was handed back to Vincent.

The king began to speak in a grand tone. "Now then, honor of our new alliance I think it would be best if you formally introduced yourself to your new ally, you are the ambassador after all."

The captain took Vincent's hand and shook it. Vincent grimaced in pain as she threatened to crush his hand.

"Susan Cotter, it's a _pleasure_." A fake smile was plastered on her face as she spoke through gritted teeth.

"Vincent Ashen, and the pleasure is all mine." He said, biting back tears from the pain. He quickly wrenched his hand from hers and shook it in hopes of it feeling better.

The king spoke with no sarcasm. "This future of this alliance looks bright, I can already tell. Now that the formalities are over, please escort Mr. Vincent back to the entrance captain Cotter."

"Right away my lord." Susan gave a curt bow before heading off with Vincent close behind. It wasn't long before they reached the entrance of the fortress. The stood on the dirt between the two wooden watchtower.

"You know, your defenses are really shit." Vincent gave one of the towers a light kick.

"Don't you have something you need to be doing?." She crossed her arms and tapped her foot impatiently.

"Oh I do, but it can wait. By the way, I was wondering why do you mobs want to eradicate mankind? I'm just a _little_ bit concerned about that." He said while bringing his index finger and thumb close to illustrate his point.

"It is will of our lords."

"Did they give a reason though, or is it just random hatred."

"We do not question our lords."

"Oh, of course. Makes sense, I mean who would want to know the reason for-" He put his hands by the sides of his mouth to make himself louder. "MOTHERFUCKING GENOCIDE!"

"Leave now before I kill you." She glared at him.

"Alright then, I'll leave. See you around Skelly." He went to turn and leave but he was promptly stopped.

"Pardon me, but what did you just say."

Vincent pretended to act clueless. "What? You mean Skelly? That's going to be your nickname from now on, don't you like it? You nicknamed me mutt so I think it's only fair that I give you one as well."

"No, it's absolutely horrible."

"Well if you don't like that one then how about Skelly marrow? Or maybe you'd prefer Skelly the skeleton, that one's my personal favorite."

"I'm going to kill you, you damned dog." Susan began slowly pacing towards Vincent.

Vincent backed away while making finger guns with his hands. "You know what I think I'll leave now, see you later." He made a sudden heel turn and ran for his life. Couldn't hold back his laughter as he ran down the valley, which was completely covered in shadow at this point. Eventually he ran out of breath and walked all the way back until he reached the icy tundra again. On the way back to the village he noticed that even though he left the tundra he still felt cold.

 _I'll have to get some warmer clothes when I get back. Hopefully that goblet those spiders gave me is worth a bit._

The sun was reaching even so closer to the horizon indicating the coming night. Soon enough, the familiar walls of the village came into view. Vincent approached the gates and shouted at one of the guards standing atop of it.

"Hey you, opening the gates!"

"Alright then, no need to shout." Like last time he disappeared from sight and the gates began to open.

Vincent marched through, eager to be done with the day already.

"Oi, would you look at that, it's the _fearsome adventurer_ returning from the his meeting with the spider queen." The two guards from before came up to Vincent. "So how did it go?" They looked down at him with a conceding smirk.

Vincent reached into his satchel and pulled out the golden goblet. "I think this should give you a good idea of how it went."

The two guards stared at it, dumbfounded and slack-jawed like a couple of idiots.

"Yeah, that's what I thought, now get the fuck out of my way." He pushed the guards aside and continued his walk to the clothing shop. He finally took the time to relax, he was grateful to finally be out of the harsh wilderness and back in the comfort of society.

"Hey, you!" Vincent turned around to see a child standing in the middle of the street pointing at him. He wore brown shorts, a brown shirt, sandals and barely came up the Vincent's chest in height.

"Wait… Are you talking to me?" Vincent said pointing at himself.

"Of course I'm talking to you! Who else would I be talking to?"

"To be honest, I was hoping anyone but me."

"Just hand over the goblet!" The child demanded with an outstretched hand.

"Is… Is this a mugging? Am I being mugged by a child?" He felt stupid just saying it.

"That's right, now hand it over and you won't get hurt."

" _You_ are going to hurt _me?_ I think you're being a just a tab bit arrogant."

"Fine then, you leave me no choice then. Prepare yourself." The child readied himself and charged Vincent, swinging his fists wildly. Before he even reached him, Vincent swung his hand and slapped the kid. It was so hard that he was lifted off of his feet and was knocked out.

"Take that you little shit." Vincent almost felt prideful in the fact that he had just beaten a child in a fight. Not wanting to stick around as longer, he took off to the clothes shop. Soon he was at his destination. The shady looking building at the end of the street, he took a deep breath and entered, readying himself for the nausea.

"Hey again, I just need something warm to wear this time." Yet again, as the words left his mouth his vision became a blurry mess as he was spun around and measured all over. Shortly, he was out the door now wearing a black parka and was now short one golden goblet. Before leaving he knocked on the door.

"Hey, I need to ask you something." A slip of paper was pushed under the door and he picked it up.

 **Dear Vincent,**

 **How was your day? Did your expedition to see the spider queen go well?**

 **Yours sincerely, the shopkeeper.**

Instead of writing on the back like last time, Vincent pushed the paper back under the door and spoke loud enough to be heard through the door.

"My day has been pretty good. Got to see the spider, which was a terrifying and traumatizing experience but I think I'll get used to it. I also got to see a giant talking skeleton, oh, and I also knocked a kid unconscious."

 _I hope nobody is listen in on this._

Another piece of paper emerged from under the door.

 **Well, well, It sounds like you've had quite the day.**

"It sure has. By the way, I was wondering if you knew where I could find an inn around here?"

 **Just go straight from here, past the well, and you'll see a sign hanging out front that says 'The Broken Axe'.**

"Thanks, hopefully I'll see you around."

And with that Vincent was on his way. When Vincent passed the well and arrived at the aforementioned street he noticed it was some sort of market district. The street was lined with shops and taverns alike. It was night by now so most of the shops were closed and the streets were dimly lit by the torches out in the street and the light coming from nearby windows. He walked and read the hanging signs, trying to spot one that said 'The Broken Axe'. It wasn't until he reached the very end of the street that he found it. The inn was rundown, the sign was hanging from one hinge and the windows were stained to the point where it was impossible to see through.

 _I can already feel the regret coming on._

He opened the door and made his way inside. The inn had a relatively low ceiling and was dimly lit. The place was covered in cobwebs, dust, splinters, and smelt like a vacuum cleaner. He was greeted by an old woman behind wooden counter.

"Hello dear." She said with a bright smile. "What can I help you with?"

He approached the counter and leaned on it. It gave a terrible creak and splinters covered his sleeve.

"I was looking to book a room for the night, do you have any available?" Vincent didn't know why he even bothered to ask, he could tell just from looking that now one else would stay in a place like this.

"Of course dear, that will be one gold." She said with a wide smile.

 _One gold, that's a steal._

Vincent took out one gold from his pouch and handed it to the lady.

"Oh, do you serve food by any chance? I'm starving." He could feel the pain from not eating for so long.

"Sure thing, just wait over at the table and I'll have something prepared."

He went and sat at the table, covering himself with even more splinters and waited. The old woman returned with a bowl of soup and a loaf of bread.

"Thank you very much."

"No dear, thank you for staying here. If you haven't noticed business has been a bit… slow lately. Also, here is the key to your room, it's up the stairs and last on the right."

After Vincent finished his dinner he retired for the night and decided to head to his room. As he walked up the dimly lit stair case he noticed that one of the steps had a hole in it.

 _It may be busted up but at least it's cheap._

When he reached the top he was introduced to a short hallway with three doors on each side. He went to the door at the end on the right and unlocked it with the key he was given. The room was small, really small. It could only fit a small bed, and a stool, and a chest in the corner. Luckily there was a lantern on the stool that illuminated the room. The room was stuffy and there was a window opposite of the door just like the ones outside. He dumped his belonging in the chest, took his boots and parka off. He then crawled in bed, wanting to finally get a good nights rest.

He let out a sigh. "I still feel cold."

 **A/N**

 **So how was it? Was it worth the wait? I doubt it but I'll try to more proactive with the next chapter and get it out sooner. Anyway, let know what your thoughts are by leaving a review, I really appreciate them. And again, sorry for the wait.**


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